


The Gungan and the Jedi

by skyeswords



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, Star Wars: Rebels, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-03-12 19:13:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28890414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skyeswords/pseuds/skyeswords
Summary: The backstory behind the Knights of Ren that Disney is too afraid to give you :)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	1. Always Two There Are

The air was still on Coruscant. The fires of yesterday had died down with a celebration of many millions of screams. The great work of destroying the Jedi was done, once and for all. High in the skyscrapers of this great city planet, a new power sat, waiting, for the dust to settle. The world would soon know a new evil, and the birth of the new Sith order. The galaxy would once again be wreathed in fear and violence. The Emperor’s new order that he caused such atrocities for would not last for long. Not long at all.  
Newly fired and evicted Senator of Naboo, Jar Jar Binks, stood silently on his balcony. This would be the last time he would see the wonder of Coruscant’s skyline from above. Suddenly, he perceived a subtle shift in the force, and sensed a presence approaching across the balcony. Jar Jar smiled, awaiting the approach of his visitor. “Meesa been wondering when yousa been crawlin back to meesa.” He turned slightly, looking all aglow in the Coruscant sunrise, exposing his toothy grin to any who would intrude upon him. “Nice to be seein yousa, Masterin Mace.”  
Mace Windu winced as he walked slowly towards the Gungan. He could hardly move, and his limbs ached from exhaustion. Mace’s new scars- he assumed he now had scars- from Palpatine’s force lightning seared deep into his skin, making every movement painful. The fall from the Chancellor’s chambers left him plummeting through the many lanes of sky traffic on the top levels of Coruscant. He had barely managed to grab hold of a flying taxi where he would have otherwise fallen into the deep space ports below. In a single moment of strife, Jedi Master Mace Windu reached desperately into the darkest parts of his psyche. He grasped out with all of his senses, searching wildly for a darkness that had been well hidden behind his calm facade. In a single moment, Mace Windu had given all that he was over to the dark side of the force. Fear, in that moment, enveloped him, swallowed him whole, and spat him back out anew. This new life, fueled by grief, had bestowed upon him one choice, which he finally came to realize.  
“Always two there are.” Mace looked up at Jar Jar, who was now towering above him, silhouetted by the light of Coruscant’s brightening sky. “I was a fool, not knowing it was you. But now I see the truth.”  
“So whatsa yousa doin here,” An immense power seethed from Jar Jar as he hissed those words in a tone less jovial than usual., “Master Jedi.” His features contorted into a cruel grimace as he regarded Mace. “The Jedi issa fallen. A newsa power rises. Bombad things a comin for you if yousa bein a Jedi.”  
“I… The Jedi temple is in shambles. I knew I couldn’t contact anyone there. This was… the only place I could think of to stay.”  
“Oh? Whatsa all this? Yousa be stayin with meesa?”  
Mace was silent for a moment, weighing his words carefully. “After our mission on Bardotta, I know that was probably all a rouse, but I felt something there. Something… that haunted me for a long while. I couldn’t decide then whether it was your dumb luck or sheer intelligence, but I now see what you truly are. That presence I felt on Bardotta was the dark side, as it grew in you.”  
Jar Jar now turned fully towards the fallen Jedi. “Yousa been puttin tings together now Masterin Mace.”  
The Gungan now seemed to be an enormous power over the Jedi. Mace, now doubled over in pain, dropped to the floor of the balcony in reverence, bowing to Jar Jar. “I have come to join you… my master.”


	2. Scars

“Why yousa bein so silly? Why yousa bowin to me? Don’t you see Macey? Weesa be bombad friends now!”  
Jar Jar’s voice rang out across the platform, striking Mace with surprise. He sounded just as he did when Mace had first met him. It was an odd and jarring change of pace from the evil spectre that stood before him.  
“I been-a schemin all by meesa self all through the Cloney-Wars. I spreadin my evil plannin all alone. But now weesa workin together!”  
“I don’t understand.” Mace said, rising and meeting Jar Jar to look over the dawning city skyline. “I thought we finally caught Palpatine for being behind the Clone Wars, it’s been you this whole time?”  
“Ah no. Not really, no. Meesa been spreadin da influence all over the senate. War is bombad danger. Meesa no mess with the dark mackey-nations of the Chancellor. Specially when it makin room for meesa to grow bombad power instead!”  
“So you knew about the war. The whole time. And you were never really with us, through all of it? I know you messed up a mission here and there, but I thought you were really trying. Senator Amidala, Skywalker, even me, we all thought you were our friend.”  
Jar Jar grasped Mace’s hand and smiled more genuinely than he had ever seen. “Yousa always my friends.”  
The Gungan then jumped with excitement, and started to walk back inside. “Oh! Meesa gotta leave. Macey you-a comin with me. Weesa fix you up real good-like. Fallin out a building make you more clumsy than meesa.”  
‘I guess he really does have some great power.’ Mace thought, as he was led into the small Coruscant apartment. ‘He definitely knows more than he should.’  
Once inside, Jar Jar was quick to treat Mace’s wounds. Mace’s head was still spinning, as he tried in vain to get used to the newly revealed Sith lord being his… friend? He couldn’t understand why Jar Jar was helping him, especially now. Nevertheless, Mace was soon relieved of some of the wounds he suffered at the hands of the new Emperor, and his subsequent fall through the busy sky traffic lanes below. As Jar Jar was finishing up, Mace caught a view of his reflection in a large mirror on the wall. His face was thoroughly marked with lightning scars. They creeped and spiked around his face, one nearly dodging an eye. His eyes looked tired. Like he hadn’t slept in days, tired. Mace suppressed a shiver as these new eyes reminded him of Palpatine, moments before throwing him out of the window. So he really had started to turn.  
Jar Jar’s voice cut through Mace’s self-reflection. “Lokin sharp Macey! But ah, weesa best be goin now. Meesa thinkin Coruscant not safe for us no more. Weesa go shoppin later, first we gotta find some more friends.”  
This struck Mace as odd. How many people knew about Jar Jar’s secret. “Where would we be finding these friends?”  
“Meesa say uh, meesa be knowin people in low places.” Jar Jar grinned broadly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if there's weird tonal shifts maybe dont worry about that lol


	3. Into Darkness

Mace and Jar Jar stepped out of the air taxi and onto the floor of Coruscant. The planet had many levels lower, but being on even the ground floor was slightly alienating to Mace, especially since he was no longer seen as a Jedi. Fortunately or not for him, that is the way it had to stay. He and his friend needed to travel deeper for their secret mission.

The two had come to stand over an impressively large pit, leading to the lower levels, which was equally impressive how empty it was. Most means of travel had been shut down following the attack at the Jedi Temple, and through the ongoing Jedi purge. They stood alone on the upper deck, obscured by their black cloaks. Mace felt like a ghost in this new world, completely apart from any kind of civilization… except for Jar Jar.

The Gungan in question surveyed the seemingly bottomless pit with caution. He walked along the edge, teetering over it with glee, as if he were tempting fate. Jar Jar didn’t seem clumsy or reckless at all, this was all by his design. All at once, Jar Jar came to a stop, readied himself, and, letting out a loud cry, leapt head first into it.

Mace waited for a long moment, bewildered by this. He looked once or twice over the edge, judging the drop to be fatal with no ships to land on, and no speeders in sight. Suddenly an impossibly loud echo came from the bottom of the cold, dark pit.

“Okee-day Macey! Yousa turn!”

Mace winced slightly. This, all that Jar Jar would happily lead him through, would likely be the death of him. But did he have any other choice? Maybe it was the sith lightning getting to his brain, maybe it was the shock of losing his home and order, just maybe he was beginning to trust Jar Jar with his life. Mace sighed, trying to weigh all of his life choices at once. Then, seeing no other option or purpose, he made up his mind and jumped.

Coruscant was a blur, and jumping into its bowels, a mistake. The many floors of once bustling city were passing by him so fast he could no longer read their numbers. The world began to grow dark, and Mace dizzy. Hurtling ever faster towards the planet core, Mace began to question for a moment if Jar Jar was even down there waiting for him, or if the voice was just some cruel trick.

Mace Windu had the world crashing back in on him right when he landed. There were lights in the deep darkness. Many neon lights, lit by heathens and thieves, to guide the way through the underworld. He came to be outside a cantina, advertising itself as a place for good family fun. Yeah, right. He could barely discern the most basic things about his surroundings when a voice clattered through his skull, shocking him awake.

“Meesa gotcha Masterin Mace!”

He had landed in Jar Jar’s arms.


	4. Pockets of Light

More and more, Mace was beginning to believe time was no longer real. He had been traveling the tunnels for what had seemed like days. The way was dark, scarcely lit by the neon glow of overhead signs, and pockets of light that seemed like stars in the distance. He had been contemplating, in shock, about the day's events. Mace wondered how he had come to be in this moment, and wondered further if he would regret his recent choices when he next had the chance to think again. With all of the chaos of last night, there was hardly time to breathe, but this long walk had now left him with nothing but time.

Jar Jar was wandering on ahead, jumping only at sounds of scampering animals in the dim corridors of Coruscant’s lower levels. Every once in a while, he would stop, seeming to survey the very air around them. Mace slowed for a moment and shook his head. Why was he down here? He could help fight, if only Jar Jar hadn’t happened to him. The Gungan was becoming more and more a menace upon Mace’s mind. He still had suspicions about Jar Jar’s true goals and even his origin, and those questions had endured all day long, haunting the now ex-Jedi, and growing with every word.

Jar Jar had fallen silent, strangely, for most of their journey so far. Upon landing, he was his usual self, but quickly slipped into an air of melancholy. Jar Jar watched carefully about him, stepping evermore confidently through the dingy streets many levels deep. His movements seemed contemplated, swift, and decisive. Jar Jar was combing through these alleys as if they were hallways of his childhood home.

He had, until now, told Mace one thing only, that they were here to meet someone. Two someones if they were lucky. Mace, naturally, didn’t like this. He didn’t want to imagine who Jar Jar would hang around with in the depths of Coruscant normally, much less now that his true nature had been revealed. Though was Mace anyone to judge? Mace Windu, member of the Jedi Council, who had fallen as far as to follow a Sith into darkness.

Suddenly, there was a presence in the force. At once, both Jar Jar and Mace halted where they stood. Jar Jar turned back in excitement, revealing a curled and horrible grin. He raised his voice so that it echoed terribly off of the maze of walls and corridors now surrounding them.

“Meesa been lookin for yousa.”

“What for?” Called back a raspy voice, it’s watcher perched somewhere unknown, “and who’s asking?”

‘Oh no’, Mace was thinking, ‘I recognize that voice.’

Jar Jar seethed and emitted what could only be a laugh, pinpointing at once where the spectre was waiting in the shadows. On seeing no further need for a disguise, the figure stepped out and revealed itself.

Asajj Ventress.


End file.
